The theory of modernization argues that development involves facilitating the post-colonial world on the path to progress towards modernity. This process involves social, economic, and cultural changes in which the country is "developed" from an industrialized or backward state to a modern society. The modernization theory has 5 stages.

1) Modernization theorists believed that traditional societies need the western strengths of modernization theory. for example, society suffered from a poor understanding of the possibilities of the environment and a lack of advanced technology and tools, resulting in limited production.

2) Second, this process can be scientifically observed and measured when social scientists had a historical pattern.

3) Third, while the "original transition" to modernization was seen primarily because of endocrine factors, the presence of prototypes may help promote growth and modernization through external support.

4) Fourth, this framework presented a "dual" historical model that measured the transition between the "ideal" poles of tradition and modernity.

5) It emphasizes how change in one part of the social structure affects the other. It is said that developmental change requires the simultaneous focus on political structures, technical, cultural institutions, and individual behaviour.

A more direct challenge to modernization theory arose in the 1960s and 1970s in the form of dependency theory. Dependency theory argues that all societies today are integrated into a single global economic system that is capitalist. Dependency theorists argue that Third World countries are poor because they were and are exploited by First World countries, and that exploitation arose from colonialism.

While both modernization theory and dependency theory have notable flaws, it should be noted that both assign a significant role to planning and coordinated assistance in a development project. Following the recipe of the addiction thesis for developmental disabilities in Africa and the South in general, the question arises: how, then, can this addiction situation be overcome?